Locking mechanism for probe connector and portable ultrasound device having the same

ABSTRACT

A locking mechanism for probe connector that is connected to a shaft of the probe connector, includes a door and a drive assembly for releasing or locking the probe connector by opening and closing of the door.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/759,146 filed Apr. 13, 2010, which claims the benefit of ChinesePatent Application No. 200910132729.3 filed Apr. 14, 2009, both of whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present application generally relates to a portable/desktopultrasound medical diagnostic imaging device, in particular, to alocking mechanism for probe connector and a portable ultrasonic devicehaving the same.

At present, the portable/desktop ultrasound diagnostic imaging device ismore and more widely used in clinical and hospital. It is not only usedin some traditional medical fields, such as abdomen examination, cardiacexamination, and gynecologial and obstetric examination, but alsobecomes to extend into many new applications, such as helping todiagnose patient visceral injury condition in emergency room orambulance and helping surgeon to perform a vein puncture operation inoperating room.

The portable ultrasound device is just one of portable ultrasoundmedical diagnostic imaging devices. The portable ultrasound devicecomprises a probe and a probe connector. The probe is used fortransmitting and receiving an ultrasound signal to and from the interiorof a human body, which ultrasound signal is then input into theultrasound device for signal processing and medical imaging. The probeis connected to the ultrasound device by means of the probe connector.Normally because of the limit of space, one portable ultrasound masterdevice is only configured with one female probe connector, and the probeend is provided with a male probe connector (Of course, the primarydevice may also be provided with a male probe connector, and the probeend is provided with a female probe connector.). The female probeconnector on the primary device can be connected each time with a probeby means of the male probe connector at the probe end. Because one probenormally can be used in one or several applications, for example theabdomen probe is normally used for imaging of internal organ of theabdomen, while the superficial probe is used for imaging of superficialblood vessels, the user must replace the different types of probes fordifferent applications when in use of this type of portable ultrasounddevice. Besides, it needs to lock the male probe connector tightly onthe female probe connector to ensure a stable and reliable electricalconnection to obtain the optimal image when in replacement of the probe.

In the prior art, normally the female probe connector is provided with asquare shaft rotatable to drive a grab within the female connector torotate and the connection terminal to project/retract. In the lockingmechanism in the prior art that locks the male probe connector to afemale probe connector, normally the square shaft is provided thereonwith a dialing lever and a dialing knob. When the male probe connectorat the probe end is connected in place, the dialing lever and the squareshaft are driven to rotate by dialing the dialing knob to rotate to locktight the inner grab and project the connector terminal of theconnector, thereby locking the male and female probe connectors andensuring good electrical connection, or vice versa, releasing the maleand female probe connectors.

Such locking mechanism can satisfy the conventional applicationrequirements. In new application fields, however, such structure causesthe probe connector to be exposed to outside environments such asoperation and to be prone to contamination of blood splash and externalenvironments.

In addition, in emergency treatment or operation, frequent replacementof probes is very time-consuming and tedious. Especially for emergencysituations such as emergent operation, each second may be a matter oflife of the patient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention provide a locking mechanism for probeconnector having a protective effect and a portable ultrasound devicehaving the same.

In some embodiments, the locking mechanism is for use with a probeconnector, connected to a shaft of the probe connector, comprising adoor and a drive assembly for releasing or locking the probe connectorby opening and closing of the door.

In one aspect of the drive assembly, the drive assembly comprises afirst straight gear, a second straight gear, a first bevel gear and asecond bevel gear sequentially connected and a spring located below thefirst straight gear and being capable of providing torque for the firststraight gear.

In some embodiments, the door and the first straight gear are coaxialand have definite relative movement therebetween.

In addition, the spring may be a torsion spring.

In another aspect of the drive assembly, the drive assembly comprises athird straight gear arranged within the door and a fourth straight geararranged on the shaft.

Further, the door may comprise a door locker and a latch.

Correspondingly, the technical solution of the portable ultrasounddevice includes a primary system, a female probe connector and a maleprobe connector as well as a probe mounted on the primary system, andfurther comprises a locking mechanism for probe connector, the lockingmechanism for probe connector comprising a door and a drive assembly forreleasing or locking the probe connector by opening and closing of thedoor.

In one aspect of the drive assembly, the drive assembly comprises afirst straight gear, a second straight gear, a first bevel gear and asecond bevel gear sequentially connected and a spring located below thefirst straight gear and being capable of providing torque for the firststraight gear.

In some embodiments, the second bevel gear of the locking mechanism forprobe connector is connected to the shaft of the male probe connector,and the male probe connector is positioned within the door.

The door and the first straight gear are coaxial and have definiterelative movement therebetween.

Further, the spring may be a torsion spring.

In another aspect of the drive assembly, the drive assembly comprises athird straight gear arranged within the door and a fourth straight geararranged on the shaft.

Further, the male probe connector may comprise two or more male probeconnectors.

The door may comprise a plurality of doors.

Compared with the prior art, the locking mechanism for probe connectorand the portable ultrasound device having the locking mechanismaccording to the present invention have at least the followingbeneficial effects.

First, the locking mechanism for probe connector of this invention has adoor to protect the probe connector within the door, namely isolatingthe probe connector from the external environments, thereby preventingthe probe connector from being contaminated by blood splash and externalenvironments, thus performing the function of protection.

Second, since this invention adopts a door, the user only needs to pressdown the switch of the door in replacement of the probe to realize theactions of opening the door and releasing the probe simultaneously tofacilitate replacing of the probe, thereby saving the replacing time andoperating action so that the portable ultrasound device of thisinvention can be applied in wider and finer fields.

Further, the portable ultrasound device of this invention may have twoor more male probe connectors. Normally, two or more male probeconnectors can satisfy most of the application requirements. Therefore,to use the portable ultrasonic device of this invention can reduce probereplacement operations and save operation and treatment time to themaximum extent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the content of this invention more completely,description will be made hereinafter with reference to the appendeddrawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the locking mechanismfor probe connector of this invention;

FIG. 2 is spatial view of one embodiment of the locking mechanism forprobe connector of this invention with the probe connector locked andthe door closed;

FIG. 3 is spatial view of one embodiment of the locking mechanism forprobe connector of this invention with the probe connector released andthe door opened;

FIG. 4 is a partial spatial view of the portable ultrasound devicehaving a plurality of probe connectors;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the spring in the locking mechanism forprobe connector of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a spatial view showing the positions of the door locker andthe latch;

FIG. 7A is a half-section view showing the door locker;

FIG. 7B is a half-section view showing the latch; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the lockingmechanism for probe connector of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Now, embodiments of this invention will be described in details, butthis invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 1, one embodiment of a locking mechanism for probeconnector of this invention is described. The probe connector comprisesa female probe connector 2 (see FIG. 3) and a male probe connector 1(see FIG. 3), wherein the female probe connector 2 (see FIG. 3) islocated on a primary device, and a shaft 21 thereof is connected to thelocking mechanism for the probe connector, which locking mechanism forprobe connector comprises a door 4 and a drive assembly for releasing orlocking the probe connector by opening and closing of the door 4.

Typically, when the door 4 is opened, the drive assembly may release themale probe connector 1 (see FIG. 3) and the female probe connector 2(see FIG. 3); and when the door 4 is closed, the drive assembly may lockthe male probe connector 1 and the female probe connector 2.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, they are respectively a spatial view in whichthe probe connector is locked and the door is closed and a spatial viewin which the probe connector is released and the door is opened. It canbe seen from FIG. 2 that when the door 4 is closed, the male probeconnector 1 and the female probe connector 2 are in a locked status andare protected within the door 4, thereby protecting the probe connectoragainst contamination from blood splash and external environments. Inaddition, it is possible to enable the edge of the door 4 to tightly fitthe profile of the probe and to provide a well-known sealing meanstherebetween, such as a seal strip, thereby realizing high gradeprotection, such as waterproof and dustproof. In the status as shown inFIG. 3, the door 4 is opened with the female probe connector 2 and themale probe connector 1 released, thus the user can replace the probeconveniently.

It can be seen from FIG. 1 that the drive assembly comprises a firststraight gear 5, a second straight gear 6, a first bevel gear 7 and asecond bevel gear 8 sequentially connected and a spring 9 (see FIG. 5)located below the first straight gear 5 with one end connected to thedoor 4 and another end connected to the first straight gear 5 and beingcapable of providing torque for the first straight gear, wherein thesecond bevel gear 8 of the locking mechanism for probe connector isconnected to a shaft 21 of the female probe connector 2, and the shaft21 may be a square shaft.

Further, the first straight gear 5 is fixed at one end of the door 4,and no relative movement exists therebetween. That is, the door 4 andthe first straight gear 5 are coaxial and have definite relativemovement therebetween. The first straight gear 5 matches with the secondstraight gear 6. The second straight gear 6 then is fixed together withthe first bevel gear 7; hence, the second straight gear 6 and the firstbevel gear 7 do not have relative movement therebetween. The first bevelgear 7 matches with the second bevel gear 8.

When it needs to replace the probe, the user opens the door 4, and thespring 9 springs back and pushes the first straight gear 5 to rotate.Because the engagement between the first straight gear 5 and the secondstraight gear 6, the second straight gear 6 is also driven to rotate,thereby causing first bevel gear 7 to rotate. Because the engagementbetween the first bevel gear 7 and the second bevel gear 8, the firstbevel gear 7 drives the second bevel gear 8 to rotate. The shaft 21 ofthe female probe connector 2 is rotated with the second bevel gear 8.

Because the teeth numbers of the gears 5, 6, 7 and 8 may be the same, sothey translate the same rotation angle. When the door opens 60 degrees,the first straight gear 5, the second straight gear 6 and the firstbevel gear 7 and the second bevel gear 8 all rotate 60 degrees. So theshaft 21 rotates 60 degrees and releases the probe. In this specificembodiment, the spring 9 then reaches the spring back limit and finishesgiving the torque. User can take away the probe, or open the door to 90degrees or more manually for taking away the probe more easily. In thisspecific embodiment, in the space more than 60 degrees, no gearengagement will work.

Although this embodiment provides the case that the spring back limit ofthe spring 9 can open the door 4 to 60 degrees, those skilled in the artcan certainly use other spring back limits to open the door 4 todifferent degrees as long as the rotation space is enough for takingaway the probe. Likewise, the teeth numbers of the gears 5, 6, 7 and 8may also be different such that it is possible to obtain differentmovement angles and to change the force needed in opening and closing ofthe door.

After the probe is replaced, it only needs to close the door 4. Theclosing force of the door 4 overcomes the torque of the spring 9 andcompresses the spring 9. With the door closing, the gear will engage androtate in the opposite direction of door opening process. The shaft 21will lock the probe after finishing the 60 degree rotation driven by thegear set. The action of closing the door is finished.

Also shown in FIG. 5, the spring 9 may be a torsion spring.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIGS. 7A and 7B, the door 4 may comprise a locker10 and a latch 11. The door 4 may be an automatic door. The pair of doorlocker 10 and latch 11, normally used in some drawers or small doors onelectrical device, is well-known technology. Under the lock status, thelatch 11 will exit from the locker 10 when the latch is pushed against,thereby opening the door 4. Under the open status of the door, the latch11 can be pushed into the locker 10 when the latch 11 is pushed against,thereby locking the door, namely closing the door. Use of this pair ofparts on the door 4 is enough to let the action simple enough. The userjust needs to push against the door, the door 4 will open automatically.

As another embodiment of this invention, shown in FIG. 8, the driveassembly comprises a third straight gear 23 arranged within the door 4and a fourth straight gear 24 arranged on the square shaft 21. The door4 may rotate about a rotation shaft 22 which may be located on the topof the door 4. When the door 4 rolls over upward, the door is in theopen status. The third straight gear 23 arranged within the door 4 isengaged with the fourth straight gear 24 arranged on the square shaft.These two matching gears rotate in opposite directions, therebyrealizing downward rotation of the square shaft 21 to release the maleprobe connector and the female probe connector, or vice versa, to lockthe male probe connector and the female probe connector.

Certainly, it also possible to make any modification, variation andsubstitution to the drive assembly. For example, if the bottom spaceallows, it is also feasible to provide a square hole within the door 4for matching with the square shaft 21 and set the rotation shaft 22 ofthe door 4 coaxial with the central axis of the square shaft 21, therebydirectly realizing locking and releasing of the male probe connector byrolling over of the door 4. Seeing that this structure is similar to theforegoing two embodiments and are simple, no further description will begiven herein.

In the foregoing embodiments, downward rotation of the square shaft 21of the male probe connector 2 is for releasing, while the upwardrotation of the square shaft 21 is for locking. Of course, it possibleto adjust the rotation direction of the square shaft. Correspondingly,it is possible to adjust matching relation of the gear set to achievethe desired purpose of opening the door to release and closing the doorto lock. This is easy for those skilled in the art to get familiar, andthus no further description will be given herein.

This invention has further disclosed a portable ultrasound devicecomprising a primary system, a female probe connector 2 connected to theprimary system as well as a male probe connector 1 and a probe, andfurther comprising a locking mechanism comprising a door 4 and a driveassembly for releasing or locking the probe connector by opening andclosing of the door 4.

The primary system is the main portion of the portable ultrasound deviceand which can use any technology well known to those skilled in the art.

In one embodiment, the drive assembly comprises a first straight gear 5,a second straight gear 6, a first bevel gear 7 and a second bevel gear 8sequentially connected and a spring 9 located below the first straightgear 5 and being capable of providing torque for the first straightgear.

Wherein the second bevel gear 8 of the locking mechanism of a probeconnector is connected to the shaft of the female probe connector, andthe male probe connector 1 is positioned within the door 4.

Further, the door 4 and the first straight gear 5 are coaxial and havedefinite relative movement therebetween. The spring 9 may be a torsionspring.

In another embodiment, the drive assembly comprises a third straightgear 23 arranged within the door 4 and a fourth straight gear 24arranged on the shaft 21. The door 4 may rotate about the rotation shaft22 which may be located on the top of the door 4. When the door rollsover upward, the door is in an open status. Within the door 4 isarranged a third straight gear 23 which engages with the fourth straightgear 24 on the square shaft. These two matching gears rotate in oppositedirections, thereby releasing downward rotation of the square shaft 21to release the male probe connector and the female probe connector a, orvice versa, to lock the male probe connector and the female probeconnector.

Shown in FIG. 4 is a partial spatial drawing of the portable ultrasounddevice with a plurality of probe connectors. This device comprises twoor more female probe connectors (not shown) for locking with orreleasing from the male probe connectors 1 simultaneously to connect aplurality of probes. Normally, three probes can satisfy most of theapplication requirements. Each female probe connector is providedoutside with a door 4 and a drive assembly for releasing or locking theprobe connector by opening and closing of the door.

The locking mechanism for probe connector of this invention can be usedin any portable ultrasound device.

Although the specific embodiment of this invention have described abovewith reference to the appended drawings, those skilled in the art canmake various modifications, variations and equivalent substitutions tothe invention without departing from the spring and scope of thisinvention. These variations, modifications and equivalent substitutionsall intend to fall within the spirit and scope defined by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A locking mechanism for use with a portableultrasound probe connector connected to a shaft of the ultrasound probeconnector, the locking mechanism comprising a door and a drive assemblyconfigured to selectively release and lock the probe connector byopening and closing the door, the drive assembly comprising a firststraight gear arranged within the door and a second straight geararranged on the shaft.
 2. The locking mechanism according to claim 1,wherein the door comprises a door locker and a latch.
 3. The lockingmechanism according to claim 1, wherein the shaft is a square shaft. 4.The locking mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the probe connectorcomprises a plurality of probe connectors.
 5. The locking mechanismaccording to claim 1, wherein the door comprises a plurality of doors.6. A portable ultrasound device comprising: a primary system; a femaleprobe connector mounted on the primary system; a male probe connector; aprobe; and a locking mechanism coupled to the male probe connector, thelocking mechanism comprising a door and a drive assembly configured torelease and lock the male probe connector to the female probe connectorby opening and closing the door, wherein the female probe connectorcomprises a shaft, and the drive assembly comprises a first straightgear arranged within the door and a second straight gear arranged on theshaft.
 7. The portable ultrasound device according to claim 6, whereinthe door comprises a door locker and a latch.
 8. The portable ultrasounddevice according to claim 6, wherein the female probe connectorcomprises a plurality of female probe connectors.
 9. The portableultrasound device according to claim 6, wherein the male probe connectorcomprises a plurality of male probe connectors.
 10. The portableultrasound device according to claim 6, wherein the door comprises aplurality of doors.
 11. The portable ultrasound device according toclaim 6, wherein the shaft is a square shaft.
 12. An ultrasound devicecomprising: a female probe connector; a male probe connector sized to beinserted into the female probe connector; and a locking mechanismcoupled to the male probe connector and the female probe connector, thelocking mechanism comprising a door and a drive assembly configured tolock the male probe connector in an inserted position within the femaleprobe connector and to release the male probe connector from the femaleprobe connector, wherein the female probe connector comprises a shaft,and wherein the drive assembly comprises a first straight gear arrangedwithin the door and a second straight gear arranged on the shaft. 13.The ultrasound device according to claim 12, wherein the door comprisesa door locker and a latch.
 14. The ultrasound device according to claim12, wherein the female probe connector comprises a plurality of femaleprobe connectors.
 15. The ultrasound device according to claim 12,wherein the male probe connector comprises a plurality of male probeconnectors.
 16. The ultrasound device according to claim 12, wherein thedoor comprises a plurality of doors.
 17. The ultrasound device accordingto claim 12, wherein the shaft is a square shaft.